What Is The 'Face Split Incident 2009?' The Viral Gore Video Of A Man's Diving Accident, Explained

Growing up with the internet, a lot of young people were exposed to shock videos that fall under the dreadful category of gore. Whether it was your older brother or an edgy friend at school showing you, many Zoomers and Millennials have seen the infamous "Face Split Incident 2009" video at least once.

If you didn't see it against your will in a middle school locker room, chances are you've now heard of it on YouTube and TikTok in the same vein that creepypastas are often discussed and immortalized. If that's the case, you were probably told not to Google it, yet here you are.

In turn, let's discuss the origin of this notorious video, explain where it came from and why it's spreading once again throughout the web's current consciousness. Be warned, the details are gruesome.

What Is The 'Face Split Incident 2009' Video?

The gross and shocking video that we're talking about involves a young man who dove off of a passenger bridge. He was aiming for the water below. Just before he jumped, however, he slipped, causing him to fall face-first onto the hard dock before the water. In the moldy and low-quality cell phone footage, one can see that the water fills with red after he hits his head.

In one quick cut, the footage switches to a different cell phone video seemingly taken after the man's accident. This second video is in a hospital emergency room, allegedly showing the man who hit his face which, disgustingly, is split exactly down the middle due to the collision. He is still conscious.

A doctor is then seen putting his hands on the two halves of the man's face, squishing them back together and then letting them fall apart again.

Where Did The 'Face Split Incident 2009' Video Come From?

The video originally circulated the web in late 2009, going viral on the Western internet after it was posted to Reddit. Before it landed on Reddit, it most likely surfaced on the now-defunct shock site Liveleak.

There were many rumors as to where the original video came from. The most detailed research about the video was done by an independent journalist named Robert Lindsay who published a long-form post to his blog Robert Lindsay Returns in October 2009.

Lindsay claimed that the video was filmed in June 2009 in Beruit, Lebanon on the city's seaside promenade. He claimed that the man in the film was actually 16 years old. Most of this came from the fact that the people in the film, including the ER doctors, were speaking in Lebanese Arabic. When translated, many of the video's mysteries were uncovered, such as the doctor allegedly saying, "Where do I begin?" a few times in Arabic.

Why Is The 'Face Split Incident 2009' Video Trending?

Although the video first shocked the internet back in 2009, its notoriety has since had a resurgence, mostly due to YouTubers and TikTokers making videos about its history. Especially on TikTok, where the userbase is statistically younger, many of them had never heard of the "Face Split Incident 2009" video, hence the reason that they'd want to look it up.

In turn, lots of memes about the video have surfaced in the past year. Many of the memes "recreate" the original video in video games and animations. Other meme creators simply reference the video's ominous name "Face Split Incident 2009" as a way to lure people in on the inside knowledge.

For the full history of the Face Split Incident 2009, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry on the video for even more information.